Emerging From Isolation

By Yuan Yuan

Mu Xiaolong， a 31-year-old from the Derung ethnic group， took part in an online Spring Festival gala in January. Unlike the grand gala broadcast live by China Central Television on Lunar New Years Eve， which was January 24 this year， this online gala was recorded days before.

For the recording， Mu traveled all the way from Dulongjiang Township in Yunnan Province in southwest China to Langfang， a city in Hebei Province neighboring Beijing. The trip took him about three days.

Mu carried local specialties including herbs， honey， mushroom， ethnic clothes and craft items to the gala from his township. Appearing in traditional Derung clothes， he demonstrated and promoted the specialties in the program.

The Derung， an ethnic group unknown to many before， has drawn increasing attention since 2018 for creating a miracle in poverty alleviation.

Harsh conditions

Dulongjiang， named after the Dulong River winding through it， is nestled in snowcapped mountains bordering Myanmar. Majority of the residents are from the Derung ethnic group， which has a small population.

Before the founding of the Peoples Republic of China in 1949， the Derung in the township lived in primitive conditions. For a long time after 1949， it remained one of the poorest areas in China. Every year， heavy snow blocked the township from the outside world for about six months. Even without the snow， it was extremely hard to travel out of the township as there were no roads. Landslides， avalanches and wild animal attacks added to the hardship.

But over the past three decades， things have changed. The story of Mu is an epitome of this townships development.

When Mu was at the primary schoolgoing age， the town had only a small school with three grades. For the fourth grade and up， the children had to go to the seat of Gongshan Dulong and Nu Autonomous County， which the township belongs to. The whole trip， although less than 100 km， took over three days by foot. Another choice was to slide along a steel wire above the roaring Dulong， which was very dangerous.

In 2000， Mu moved to the county seat of Gongshan for schooling and had to travel on foot. He was accompanied by adults who carried a tent and enough food for three days.